Rate My Professor Rebecca Ritchie

Professor Rebecca Ritchie is Professor and Head of Drug Discovery Biology (Theme Leader) and Head of Heart Failure Pharmacology in the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, a position she has held since her recruitment in 2019 along with her Heart Failure Pharmacology team. She completed her B.Sc. (Hons) in Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology from the University of Adelaide in 1989 and her Ph.D. in Cardiology in 1994 from the same institution, with her doctoral research developing the first quantitative model of the force-interval relationship in human myocardium and focusing on predictors of myocardial function in patients with ischaemic heart disease. Her postdoctoral training included positions at Wayne State University (1995–1997, USA) and the Florey Institute (1997–2002). Prior to Monash, she spent 17 years at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute from 2002, advancing to Lab Head in 2008, Chair of the Science Faculty in 2017, and member of the Management Round Table (2017–2019).

An internationally recognised cardiac pharmacologist, Professor Ritchie's translational research focuses on arresting the progression of heart failure, including diabetes-associated heart failure (types 1 and 2), post-myocardial infarction heart failure, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), with particular attention to sex differences as women are especially susceptible. Her laboratory utilises preclinical models (in vivo and human iPSC-derived in vitro) and clinical collaborations to develop novel therapeutics targeting unique mechanisms. She has authored over 154 publications garnering more than 9,050 citations (h-index 51), including key works such as 'Invited Review: Basic mechanisms of diabetic heart disease' (Circulation Research, 2020, with E.D. Abel), 'Implications of underlying mechanisms for the recognition and management of diabetic cardiomyopathy' (Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2018), 'Current challenges in the treatment of cardiac fibrosis: recent insights into the sex-specific differences of glucose-lowering therapies on the diabetic heart' (British Journal of Pharmacology, 2023), and 'Mapping the Cellular and Molecular Landscape of the Diabetic Myocardium' (iScience, 2023). Awards include the 2024 ASCEPT Fellowship, Fellow of the International Society of Heart Research (2021), NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (2014), American Heart Association International Fellow (2013), and ASCEPT Achievement Award (2012). She has maintained continuous peer-reviewed funding since 1999 from NHMRC, MRFF, Heart Foundation, Diabetes Australia, and others, and holds leadership roles such as Deputy Chair of the Victorian Cardiovascular Research Network (2024–present) and Co-Director of the Drug Discovery and Translation Flagship of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance.